Leofwine_draca THE POINT MEN, made in 2001, is an action vehicle centred around waning star Christopher Lambert, whose HIGHLANDER days were long behind him by this stage. The plot is very much run of the mill for genre, involving a shifty Middle Eastern villain who's got a vendetta against a team of crack operatives, and it's all very familiar. But there's one thing that makes this special: the presence of Bond director John Glen at the helm.Yes! Incredibly enough, Glen's star has also fallen far enough for him to be reduced to this kind of low-budget fare. That's great news for the film, which incorporates a series of stunning action sequences which are clearly handled by a master director; the opening chase is particularly vivid and exciting, good enough to rival Glen's work on the Bond films a couple of decades earlier.As the story progresses I found myself highly entertained, purely down to the direction. The bit with the truck is also excellent, and if it does tail off a bit towards the end then that's forgivable. Cast-wise, Lambert gives a typical turn, leaving me with the usual impression: that he's a nice guy, but that he doesn't have much presence. Kerry Fox is miscast, but GAME OF THRONES star Donald Sumpter lends some gravitas and Vincent Regan is ever decent, this time as the bad guy. Watch out for former Bond girl Maryam d'Abo in a minor role...

zardoz-13 John Glen holds the distinction of helming more James Bond movies than any other director. He got his start on the Bonds as an editor and graduated with "For Your Eyes Only" as the director. Each of his 007 epics are classic, polished, and exciting. Glen displayed a knack for action filmmaking. Alas, when audiences turned away in droves for the second Timothy Dalton Bond adventure "License to Kill," the Bond producers cleaned house. Glen's career went into decline because nothing he made thereafter benefited from the force of a dynamic character like James Bond. The former Bond helmer hasn't lost his punch. Indeed, "The Point Men" has all the trappings of a Bond movie since it concerns one of the Mossad's ultra-hush, hush, assassination squads. Essentially, this briskly-paced 90-minute melodrama is a revenge thriller about a killer whittling down the squad one operative at a time. The PLO villain is as ruthless as he is methodical. At one point, he goes under a plastic surgeon's knife to disguise himself. After he has been given a new visage, the villain shoots not only the plastic surgeon but also his nurse. The action was lensed on actual locations in Luxembourg, France, Israel, and New York City, and this enhances the film's authenticity. Lenser Alec Mills' cinematography is solid stuff; he served as Glen's director of photography on "Christopher Columbus: The Discovery," "Iron Eagle: Aces: Iron Eagle 3, "The Living Daylights," and "License to Kill." Actress Maryam d'Abo has a small role as one of the squad. She played the romantic lead in Glen's "The Living Daylights."The opening scene bristles with action, explosions, and death. There is no shortage of melodrama in Ripley Highsmith's adaption of Steven Hartov's novel. Hartov wrote the two "Mercenary" straight-to-video movies. Mind you, Glen still knows how to orchestrate action scenes. "Highlander" star Christopher Lambert plays a sympathetic Mossad assassin who is convinced that his team iced the wrong terrorist. Miraculously, Tony Eckhardt (Lambert) survives an opening shoot-out in broad daylight but his partner (Hendrick Haese of "Contaminated Man") dies. No sooner has Rainer shot Amar Kamil than two unknown guys with small arms show up and blaze away at them. Maddy Hope (Kerry Fox of "Shallow Grave") pulls up in her car as the wounded Tony staggers away from the shooting. Maddy and he wind up participating in a careening car chase that ends disastrously with a fireball explosion wherein two men are barbecued. Tony winds up in Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. He asserts that the man they killed was not the notorious Palestinian terrorist. Naturally, nobody believes Tony. Eventually, our hero leaves the hospital with his left arm in a sling and an automatic pistol tucked behind his back. Tony explains that the man they shot had a look of surprise in his eyes. Consequently, Tony and his 'foreign legion' of comrades are disbanded and reassigned. Nevertheless, the Middle-East villains aren't content to let old ills lay quietly. Tony is forced to take a desk job while one of his buddies goes back to college in New York City. Harry Webber (William Armstrong of "The Dark Knight") is the first member of the team to bite the dust. The killer stages the killing as if it were collateral damage during a convenience store robbery. The next man in their team, Peter Hauser (Nicolas de Pruyssenaere of "Black Book") dies next, in an explosion after his automobile is smashed and pushed off a mountain. Tony accuses Israel Intelligence of killing their former comrades because they still don't believe. Unfortunately, our hero cannot convince his superiors and some of his friends until it is too late. Eventually, Tony learns that the villain is motivated because his hit squad killed his two brothers and his wife. The villain plans to kill a PLO leader seeking peace, even though he is his half-brother.Glen directs with a sure hand. "The Point Men" is better than average with a villain who struggled against the irony in his predicament. Not bad, but not great.

Arvid Pedersen The movie Point Men is essentially a start to finish action movie. Director John Glen gives a trademark stylish view of terrorism set in the middle east. The story is horrific, and even more so knowing it's actually based on a true story.Cinematographer Alec Mills makes the film look very real and gives it the air it needs in forming an atmosphere that's both nice to watch and somewhat difficult to look at as it depicts the tone of violence in an very effective way.Although the film has obvious lack of budget, John Glen somehow manages to make an effective action film that mainly look gloss and feature some breathtaking driving sequences.It has, in glimpses, a sort of Glen's Bond feel to it. The performance from C.Lambert is at his best. Although that doesn't say too much as I have a sneaking suspicion he just about always acts as himself.I'd give it a 7/10 for it's Glen/Mills/Lambert touch.

dima-12 Rare are the authors that are able to create a vivid movie about the clashes of Israeli hitmen and Arab terrorists. 007 - veteran John Glen joined the legion of these greats with his latest feature THE POINT MEN. "Ripley Highsmith"`s script (based on Steve Hartov`s novel THE HEAT OF RAMADAN) served as an exceptional reason for the reunion of the reliable B - cast that doesn`t even warm the bench in the mainstream cinema these days. Action fans eventually got an opportunity to enjoy a pretty smart conception of heartwarming cliches from the , allegedly dead, MOSSAD - genre that was revived by an intelligent script, above average budget and Glen`s crafty direction of gunfights and car chases where bullets really hit the flesh and real cars get smashed up. No comment belongs out of this statement. There`s just home cinema for all those action buffs who craved for a good flip of an expensive Mercedes ever since McTiernan`s DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE.